After the Death Ceremony, I was Entangled by My Two Wives - Chapter 21

Half of his face remained human, but the other half…

Zhao Qingxun paused, then grew intrigued.

He actually killed the Ancestor of the Heavenly Evolution Sect? That’s quite interesting. As far as she knew, Shen Cangwu had never participated in the Heavenly Sacrifice. Yet he managed to kill the Ancestor, who had been drawing power from the Heavenly Sacrifice for ages…

This Shen Cangwu is truly hiding his capabilities. Zhao Qingxun nodded, studying him intently for the first time, trying to discern any hidden strengths.

She couldn’t figure it out. How did he manage to kill someone so far above his level?

Intriguing, truly intriguing. She hadn’t seen him act in the other world, but now he’s intervening here. What new changes will this bring?

Leaning forward against the table, Zhao Qingxun asked, “Tell me more. What do you want? You said ‘we’ have a plan—who is this ‘we’?”

“I want to form an alliance with you, and Chasing Wind City,” Shen Cangwu replied calmly.

Zhao Qingxun raised an eyebrow, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Instead, she asked another question: “What about the Myriad Phenomena Sect?”

Shen Cangwu said, “That’s what I was about to explain. The Myriad Phenomena Sect has likely been persuaded by the Flowing Cloud Sect and Nine Nether Sect. Something has gone wrong in Chasing Wind City, and they’ve cut off all communication with the outside world.”

“Leave the Myriad Phenomena Sect to me. I want to ask you to investigate what’s happening in Chasing Wind City. Because of the Myriad Phenomena Sect’s influence, they’re not very trusting of us right now.”

Hearing this, Zhao Qingxun instantly felt a headache coming on. “Ugh, can you be more specific about what’s going on? I’m not agreeing to anything that sounds like a suicide mission. After all, this alliance isn’t essential for me.” Zhao Qingxun subtly retreated a step, eyeing Shen Cangwu warily.

Shen Cangwu fully understood Zhao Qingxun’s caution. He handed her a crystal. “Of course, you can withdraw at any time. Whether you go, whether you can uncover what’s wrong in Chasing Wind City, or whether you can resolve it won’t affect our cooperation. This crystal contains a fragment of my Divine Soul. If anything happens to you, I won’t escape unscathed either.”

Zhao Qingxun didn’t stand on ceremony. She took the crystal and examined it, confirming it indeed contained a fragment of her Divine Soul. Reassured of her own safety, she remarked, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll crush this and devour you all?”

“You won’t,” Shen Cangwu replied calmly, showing no trace of fear. “You need allies. I know that.”

Zhao Qingxun stared at her for a moment, searching for any sign of deception, but finding none, she gave up. She carefully stored the crystal and extended her hand. “Then we’ve reached a unified goal? Since you’ve made your intentions clear, I won’t remain idle either. I’ll assist A’Ran in resolving the Chasing Wind City matter. I won’t swear an oath, though. We both know the consequences—that thing will target us.”

In truth, Zhao Qingxun would have intervened in Chasing Wind City regardless of Shen Cangwu’s involvement. As she had said, she needed allies.

“This is a Ghost Talisman,” Zhao Qingxun said, tossing Shen Cangwu a Military Talisman. “It can command a thousand Ghost Soldiers under my command, each with the strength of a Golden Core cultivator. Consider it a fair exchange. Use it if necessary, but if I discover you’re abusing it, I won’t spare you.”

Now all that remained was to wait for Ying Buran to awaken. No one knew when that would be.

Not long after Zhao Qingxun left, Ying Buran woke up.

Her eyes fluttered open to a completely unfamiliar environment, and a wave of panic surged through her. She instinctively sat up and reached for her waist, only to find nothing there. A splitting headache followed, as if someone had hammered a spike into her skull.

Ying Buran massaged her throbbing temple, struggling to recall what had happened. But her memories were shattered, impossible to piece back together.

What exactly happened? And where am I?

After a while, the headache and dizziness subsided. Ying Buran tried to stand, but her body felt strange—half light and agile, half heavy and sluggish.

She stumbled to a table where a bronze mirror lay. The reflection that stared back at her froze her in place.

One half of her face remained human, but the other was skeletal, empty eye sockets gazing into the mirror. This grotesque, half-human, half-ghostly visage startled Ying Buran.

Is this really me? She reached out to touch the skeletal half of her face. The texture was unmistakably bone. Where there should have been flesh, an invisible force blocked her fingers, radiating a faint heat.

As long as she didn’t touch it, she felt no heat at all. She tried covering the eye on her intact half of her face, but she could still see, though it felt like something had been added to her vision.

A bit… magical? What had happened to her to cause this?

“Miss Ying, you’re awake?” Ying Buran whipped around at the sound of the voice, relief flooding her as she saw it was a normal person. She pointed at herself. “Are you talking to me?”

The soldier blinked, then nodded dumbly. “Yeah, I was calling you. The Boss told me to guard you here. There’s no one else around.”

Who’s the Boss? Ying Buran swallowed her questions, forcing herself to remain calm, hiding her wariness and a flicker of panic. “Then… can I go outside?” she asked casually.

“Uh, sure, as long as you’re not feeling unwell. If you’re not feeling well, you should wait for the Boss to get back.”

“I feel fine now,” Ying Buran said, subtly observing the woman before her and calculating her chances of winning a fight. If they won’t let me leave…

The soldier stepped aside and opened the door. “Go ahead. The main gate is the door to your left after you exit. There’s some food in the living room if you’re hungry. Since you’re all good, I’m gonna take off. Wuhu’s on vacation!”

The soldier cheerfully ran off, and Ying Buran thought she might have seen the soldier’s head momentarily detach from her body.

An illusion, surely? she thought. If someone’s head flies off, they’d die immediately, right?

Ying Buran stepped out of the room and glanced right, spotting a table laden with food. It smelled delicious, but she didn’t dare touch it. First, she tentatively felt the door, then tried pushing it.

It opened easily.

Two figures stood in the courtyard. One wore striking red robes and a cyan mask, while the other was clad in pale cyan robes that seemed out of place in the dim surroundings.

If she wasn’t mistaken, the cyan-robed figure appeared to have three clusters of fire on their body. Neither the red-robed woman nor the soldier with the possibly flying head had any.

The red-robed woman visibly brightened at the sight of her, waving and instantly appearing beside her. She wrapped Ying Buran in a tight hug. “A’Ran, you’re finally awake! I’ve been so worried about you these past few days!”

The woman was slightly taller, bending slightly to hug Ying Buran around the waist and nuzzling her neck affectionately.

Ying Buran hesitated for a moment, neither pushing her away nor returning the embrace. Instead, she asked, “Who are you?”

Zhao Qingxun froze for a moment, stunned that Ying Buran had forgotten her after just one night’s sleep. She released her embrace, instead placing her hands on Ying Buran’s shoulders. With one hand, she reached up and removed her mask. “Now?”

Ying Buran stared at her for a long moment, her face familiar yet unrecognizable. “I don’t know you.” Not only did she not recognize Zhao Qingxun, but she also felt a sudden urge to… hit her?

Zhao Qingxun panicked. Even the King of Hell hadn’t warned her about memory loss upon leaving the underworld! “How much do you remember?”

“I don’t know.”

Seeing Zhao Qingxun’s growing distress, Shen Cangwu stepped forward. “Let’s all calm down and sit down to talk this through. Allow me to introduce myself: I am Shen Cangwu, Sect Leader of the Heavenly Evolution Sect. We’ve met before. I’m pleased you succeeded, Fellow Daoist Ying.”

No, not entirely successful. Shen Cangwu glanced at Ying Buran’s half-ghost mask and finally understood the meaning of the earlier divination.

Thank goodness she wore it.

Zhao Qingxun regained her composure, pulled Ying Buran down to sit, and began to describe the events that had transpired as concisely and accurately as possible. As she spoke, Ying Buran gradually began to piece together fragmented memories.

So she was in the Ghost Realm? No wonder it was so dark here, and the person before her lacked the three spiritual flames.

After Ying Buran had processed this information, Shen Cangwu produced something he had prepared earlier—a mask. “This is an apology gift for Fellow Daoist Ying. This mask conceals your aura and can change its appearance according to your thoughts. If you intend to go to the mortal realm, you absolutely cannot appear with your current face.”

Ying Buran instinctively glanced at Zhao Qingxun, who nodded, her beauty practically radiating as she bowed slightly. “Accept it. You deserve it.”

Ying Buran nodded, took the mask, and placed it on her face. The mask automatically transformed into a half-mask, perfectly covering the ghostly half of her face.

Seeing that Ying Buran had accepted the mask and could use it effortlessly, Shen Cangwu rose to his feet. “Now that I’ve explained everything and delivered the gift, I’ll take my leave.”

“Farewell, and safe travels~ Since you found your way here, you should be able to find your way back, right? But as your ally, I must warn you: you should rest for a few days. It’s impossible for a mortal body to enter the Ghost Realm without being affected.” Zhao Qingxun waved goodbye to Shen Cangwu, then tightly gripped Ying Buran’s hand, as if afraid she might run away.

Shen Cangwu nodded, withdrew three talisman papers, and tossed them into the air. The papers adhered to the void, magically conjuring a path between them. Zhao Qingxun let out a sigh of admiration, acknowledging the man’s considerable skills.

After Shen Cangwu left, Ying Buran pulled her hand away and turned to Zhao Qingxun. “So, are we going to the mortal realm next? How will we get there?”

Zhao Qingxun feigned heartbreak at Ying Buran’s distant and wary demeanor. When Ying Buran offered no comfort after a long moment, her sorrow deepened.

“Yes, we’re going too, but not by her path. That method can be jarring for soul bodies. We’ll cross the River of Oblivion,” Zhao Qingxun explained, clutching her chest in a show of anguish. “Darling, your attempts to escape me wound me deeply.”

Ying Buran’s lips twitched, and she retreated a few more steps. Her bluntness shattered the act: “You’re being kind of gross.”

Zhao Qingxun: “……”

Sob.